St. Paul– A 15-minute operation involving a forklift, 20 firefighters, seven police officers and one scared pig ended a two-hour traffic delay on Interstate 94 Sunday morning. The wild pig, whom the fireman affectionately nicknamed "Tailgate," apparently wandered onto 1-94 around 8 a.m. and fell asleep in the middle of the two-lane freeway.

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News Writing Example

Wild pig causes two-hour traffic delay on I-94

By Joe Student

January 24

St. Paul– A 15-minute operation involving a forklift, 20 firefighters, seven police officers and one scared pig ended a two-hour traffic delay on Interstate 94 Sunday morning. The wild pig, whom the fireman affectionately nicknamed “Tailgate,” apparently wandered onto 1-94 around 8 a.m. and fell asleep in the middle of the two-lane freeway.

St. Paul resident Geoffrey Saint was the first to come upon the 200-pound animal. “He practically took up the whole road,” Saint said. “I barely slammed on my brakes in time.” Saint said the cars behind him followed suit, each stopping short after reaching speeds of up to 70 mph. Saint stayed in his car and phoned area police, who responded at 8:20 a.m.

Lieutenant Terry Frank was the first officer on the scene. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Frank said. “Here was this huge, sloppy pig, just napping in the middle of the road, oblivious to what was going on around him.” Frank said she attempted to rouse the pig by poking him with a stick. “He just kept on snoring,” she said.

By 9 a.m., three fire trucks and four patrol cars had responded to the “sleeping pig” call. “We just sat there and wondered what in the world we could do,” Frank said.